Police probe Kiambu politician Gladys Chania over husband’s murder
Police say Gladys Chania is a prime suspect in the murder of her husband George Mwangi.
What you need to know:
- Gladys Chania, who has unsuccessfully vied for Kiambu Woman rep seat several times, is in police custody.
- Ms Chania is a prime suspect in the murder case.
Monday. Utamaduni Day. This is the day police believe businessman George Mwangi, 58 was killed at his home and then his body transported to a forest, wrapped in polythene and doused with acid.
On the same day, his wife Gladys Chania posted a message about life on Facebook.
“If you can’t understand life, just go and talk to a growing up child and restart yourself,” she posted, signing out with a laughing emoji.
Tuesday.
This is the day Ms Chania, made a missing person report with regards to her husband at the Mwea Police Post in Gatundu. It was allocated the OB number 18/11/10/2022.
Wednesday. Ms Chania attended a show on Kameme TV to talk about women, politics and leadership.
“Kata simu, tuko Kameme TV,” she posted on Facebook on Wednesday.
Later, she went to Facebook to celebrate getting 16,000 followers. She, however, did not make any appeals about her missing husband.
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On the same day, casual labourers heading home after working in a tea plantation spotted a body in Kieni Forest.
The body was wrapped in a black polythene bag and placed under a heap of cartons. It was later identified as Mr Mwangi’s and it now rests at the Kenyatta University Funeral Home.
Thursday. Ms Chania spoke to the Nation saying her husband had walked downstairs on Sunday morning, never to return home. She added that he left his phone behind.
Come yesterday, Ms Chania was arrested in connection with Mr Mwangi’s death and is being treated as the prime suspect.
Also in custody is Lucy Muthoni, who is said to have been a lover of Mr Mwangi. There are two others in detention due to the death.
Was it a love triangle or there was more to it? Those are the questions detectives will be seeking to unravel as they follow the trail of events that led to the death of Mr Mwangi, a businessman who operated between Kenya and Rwanda.
Detectives led by Kiambu County Criminal Investigations Officer Richard Mwaura and police commander Perminus Kioi, together with their counterparts from Homicide Department drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters, yesterday spent the second day in Mangu, Gatundu North – the matrimonial home of the deceased – trying to piece together evidence on the mysterious death of Mr Mwangi, who was an engineer and a contractor working in Kigali under Double M International, a company he owns.
Mr Kioi told reporters at the ancestral home of Mr Mwangi yesterday that preliminary investigations had revealed that the deceased was killed in the house and his body later dumped in Kieni Forest.
“All the preliminaries and circumstances under which the deceased met his death point that he was killed inside his house and his body ferried into the forest. We have recovered some of the weapons that were used in the murder including the motor vehicle,” Mr Kioi told reporters yesterday without going into further details.
“Four suspects have already been arrested and are in police custody and are helping with investigations,” he added.
Even as detectives continue to investigate the murder of Mr Mwangi, his farmhand who has been working for him for a long period is also missing.
Kiambu woman rep aspirant Gladys Chania (Jubilee).
Police yesterday said the farmhand’s mobile phone was found inside the premises of the deceased.
At the household, neighbours told the Nation yesterday that little is known about Ms Chania’s presence in their Mangu palatial home. One informed us that it is her husband who used to live there alone.
One of Mr Mwangi’s elder sisters said he had a troubled marriage.
She said that the last conversation she had with him was on Friday last week when he informed her that he was having a deep issue with his wife, Ms Chania.
“He sounded disturbed and we talked for less than two minutes and he hung up. What I remember him telling me is that ‘I am just depressed and I feel like I am close to my death,’” the sister said.
George Mwangi who was found murdered and his body dumped in Kieni forest, Kiambu. He is the husband to former Kiambu women rep candidate Ms Gladys Chania.
Yesterday, a police post on social media indicated that a love triangle was at the centre of the murder. They said the deceased was romantically involved with one Lucy Muthoni, one of the persons in custody.
Ms Muthoni, the Saturday Nation has learnt, is a tenant in one of the commercial buildings that Mr Mwangi owns adjacent to his palatial home.
“This is not a secret. We knew that my brother was in love with Ms Muthoni. They are in love with each other and the family knows this. He told us about it and they have never had an issue,” one of the sisters of the deceased said.
Yesterday, detectives stumbled upon blood stains inside the house of the deceased. They were on the bedroom walls, wardrobe and along the staircase.
This gave credence to the theory that the deceased was killed in his house.
Also recovered in the house were blood-soaked bed sheets as well as curtains and clothes hidden in a locked room next to the master bedroom.
Police say Mr Mwangi was hit with a blunt object, adding that the killer may have doused his body with acid because it had been disfigured.
Although not much is known about the deceased, a number of details about Ms Chania are in the public domain, given the cases she is facing especially in courts in Thika and Kiambu.
Her latest appearance in court was on September 29 at Kiambu Law Courts where she is fighting a fraud case number MCCR/1283/2018.
Ms Chania also has an active case at Thika Law Courts where she is fighting two charges for defrauding two people Sh400,000 by promising them that she was in a position to facilitate them to fly to the US for greener pastures.
According to the charge sheet before the court, on diverse dates Ms Chania received Sh200,000 from one Mr Eric Gathogo promising that she was in a position to fly him to America.
The promise never materialised even after the complainant surrendered the money to her.
On another charge sheet, Ms Chania is accused of defrauding Martin Mwangi of Sh200,000 last year with the promise of taking him to America.
Yesterday, Martin Mwangi told the Saturday Nation that the case has been dragging on in court and that he has never recovered his money.
Another active case involving Ms Chania is between her and the Salvation Army Church in Thika where the church is seeking Sh3.5 million from her organisation, Right at Home Rehabilitation Centre.
Yesterday, the Salvation Army Thika said the matter is coming up for hearing next month.
Mr Mwangi jetted into the country on September 13 from Kigali and was expected to fly back on Tuesday next week.
